PHOENIX — Kevin Durant defends himself when he thinks he’s inaccurately criticized.
While some view that as being overly sensitive, Durant believes he’s being honest and controlling his own narrative, even though it has led to him being singled out.
“I don’t see this talked about — I see Damian Lillard, I see LeBron [James], I see Draymond [Green], I see lots of great players in our league speak up on social media, but they don’t get that ‘sensitive’ rep,” Durant told FOX Sports last week.
Durant believes he wears a scarlet letter of sorts for being sensitive, while other athletes who engage with critics aren’t perceived in the same manner.
Why does he think that is?
“C’mon, you know what happened. Because I went to the Warriors,” said Durant, referencing leaving small-market Oklahoma City in 2016 to join a Golden State team with superstars Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Green that had won a league-record 73 games the season prior. “People still don’t like that part of everything. People want to silence me for some reason. I mean, I can’t pinpoint exactly why.
“But it’s just like I’ve seen it, it’s not just a ‘me’ thing, like, there are a lot of players amongst a lot of sports that interact with their people on Twitter, Instagram, socials, and I don’t hear the ‘sensitive’ rep about them.”
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Is Kevin Durant unfairly criticized?
Durant has long been known for clapping back against criticism on social media.
He has had many back-and-forths with people whom he believes have trash-talked him or his teams. He famously chimes in whenever Charles Barkley questions his legacy because Durant won his two championships with a superteam. He has even used a burner account to engage with haters.
Durant doesn’t see anything wrong with standing up for himself.
In fact, he sees things this way: If the worst thing that can be said about him is that he’s sensitive because of his Twitter interactions, so be it.
“I get it,” he said. “You need something. My game, you can’t clearly see the flaws in my game. Or in my personality, off-the-court stuff, I don’t have any major blemishes. So, you’ve got to find something – ‘I don’t like this KD, he tweets too much.'”
So, Durant dives headfirst into the fray, instead of remaining unsullied above it.
“If there’s something [inaccurate] that’s said about me that’s being portrayed to the fans, I definitely want to dispute that because you can hear directly from me,” Durant said. “On Twitter, it’s quick where I can just say, ‘Here, this is what I’m thinking in the moment, and then it’s over with.’ I think it’s great for fans to get insight on players.”
This year, Durant has a chance to silence the critics with another potential championship.
A midseason trade from the Brooklyn Nets brought him to the Phoenix Suns, one of his preferred destinations, joining Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. The Suns have gone 8-0 with him on the court and are now favorites to win the NBA championship as their first-round series against the LA Clippers tips off Sunday.
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Since that move, though, his legacy has been called into question yet again.
Barkley said in an interview with ESPN in late February that for Durant to be mentioned with the legends of the game, he needs to win a championship “where he’s the leader of the team, and he’s the best player.” (Since leaving the Warriors, Durant hasn’t made it past the second round of the playoffs.)
“[LeBron] says, ‘I had to win a championship without D-Wade to get old heads’ respect.'” Barkley said. “Kobe Bryant says, ‘I have to win a championship without Shaq to get these old heads off my back. I hold Kevin Durant to the same criteria.”
Durant took to Twitter to respond: “I don’t remember bron saying this … somebody link me to the article.”
For Durant, that narrative is beyond tired. He was named Finals MVP in both of the years he won championships with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, averaging 32 points, 9.6 and 6.4 assists over those runs.
As for the Suns, who made the 2021 Finals but blew a 2-0 lead, they’re just happy Durant is on their team.
“He’s one of the best to ever do it, as simple as that,” Booker said. “His game is the type of game that translates with any type of team, really. You could put him in with anybody and he’s going to be efficient. He’s going to play the right way, too. He’s the one of the best to ever do it on both sides of the ball.”
Durant is averaging 29.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and five assists this season, while becoming the first player in NBA history to shoot better than 50% from the field, 40% from the 3-point line and 90% from the free-throw line.
But Suns coach Monty Williams said his favorite part about Durant’s game are the things that fly under the radar.
“Those are the plays that, in my opinion, say more about him than anything because he’s a complete basketball player,” said Williams, singling out a block Durant had against Kyrie Irving early in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks on March 1, instead of the clutch shot he went on to make with 12 seconds left to give his team a 128-126 lead. “When you have a guy like that with you, it does give you more confidence, I’m not going to lie about that.”
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Durant said one of the reasons he set his sights on joining the Suns was because he’d be playing alongside true hoopers — guys who he believes love the game as much as he does.
“It was just the chemistry, the camaraderie they built the last couple of years that was intriguing,” Durant said. “But that is part of it. You got guys over here who love to play ball, who (have) gotten better over the years. I thought it would be a great team to build with.”
There’s no question that Durant joining the Suns completely changes the landscape of the Western Conference.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has battled against Durant for years, but he truly learned what Durant is capable of when he coached him on Team USA at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.
“He’s the best,” Popovich said. “You can’t stop him. There’s no way that he can be stopped.
“Nobody knows how hard he works … When we were with USA, we’d have a practice, and then he’d go over under a bucket with one of the coaches, and he might go for another 25, 35 minutes, hard, with every one of his moves in the book. I mean, hard. From inside the bucket, to the post, to the 3-point line, coming off this movement and that movement. We were all in amazement just watching him.”
Popovich believes because of Durant’s talent, work ethic and ability to fit in alongside anyone, the Suns will be dangerous, despite their limited time playing together.
“I’ve gotta believe no matter what happens between he and Monty and Chris Paul and Book, they’ll figure out what they need to do,” Popovich said.
As for Durant, he’s focused on being the best player he can be. While he might engage in the occasional Twitter spat, he’s not living in the past. He’s happy with all of his career decisions.
Over the summer, some wondered if he regretted leaving the Warriors after they won their fourth title in eight years in June, while his Nets were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Durant unequivocally cleared that up.
“Hell, no,” he said. “I don’t regret anything I do. I don’t regret my time in the league because I feel like I maximize every day as a player. I feel like I get the most out of myself every time I step on the floor.
“So, it’s like regardless of the results and the wins and losses, I can live with that part of it. I would never say anything I do is a failure. We could lose 82 games in a season, but if I come to work and every rep is done with intention and with force, every rep I can live with.”
That’s why he’s at peace with whatever happens next. He’s not worried about proving anything to the “old heads.”
He said his biggest goal is just to continue having control over his career.
“I want to dictate when I’m done,” he said. “I don’t want the league or injuries to dictate when I’m out the league … All the other stuff about proving and expectations and all that s—? I just want to keep hooping every day, enjoying myself. And when it’s time, I want to make that decision.”
In the meantime, he’s still going to weigh in whenever he believes anyone gets something wrong about him or his team.
Does that make him sensitive? Oh, well.
To him, setting the record straight is a sign of strength, not weakness.
“I think as time goes on,” he said, “more and more people will start to look back, like, ‘I appreciate that he was open like that on Twitter and to the media.'”
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
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